


An Echo You Don't Hear

by mothauthor



Category: Disenchantment (TV 2018)
Genre: Drug Use, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Polyamory, Season/Series 01 Spoilers, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 15:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothauthor/pseuds/mothauthor
Summary: (Mid-Season Spoilers!) Bean can't sleep in a castle without Elfo in it. As always, her paradoxical personal demon fills the void in a way that makes it feel emptier.





	An Echo You Don't Hear

**Author's Note:**

> Not exactly a "fix it", more of a "pick at the heartbreak until it gets infected". I'm a newbie author, have mercy.

 The moon shined gently over the kingdom outside Bean's window, delicate rays catching in her fair hair. She was home again, and Elfo was dead. She looked out at the beautiful silver light dappling the dark water below, and felt a bit like a fish who'd been professionally cleaned and gutted and then tossed back into the sea anyway, helpless and empty. 

 Luci had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole way home, as though Elfo's last breath had stolen the air from his own lungs on the way out. The moment they got past the gates he had disappeared to some quiet corner somewhere, and Bean hadn't tried to find him.

 She'd thought at first it might help to grieve on her own, but the longer she gazed out at the night, the more she felt like the world only gave her good things so it would hurt more when they were taken away. Her mother, her freedom, and now her friends were all forfeit, and she was afraid all she could do was wait until Luci left her, too. 

 It was ridiculous, she thought, to get so worried over a demon, especially one she was apparently stuck with forever. But Big Jo had already tried to split them up, and with each passing moment she felt more and more paranoid that some other unseen jerk would try to kick them while they were down.

 Bean slid off the windowsill and dropped to the floor. As quietly as she could manage, she crept out of her room and padded down the cold stone stairs. Luci had to be around here somewhere. She would just check to be sure he was safe, then go back to bed. She checked five rooms and three hallways before she found him in a little alcove near the kitchens. 

 Luci was curled up in the warm corner closest to a wall torch, but he wasn't sleeping.

 "So I take it you can't sleep either." His voice was casual, but his tail flicked agitatedly.

 "Yeah," Bean shifted awkwardly. She hadn't expected to catch him awake and have to explain herself. 

 Luci sighed, then stretched and jumped down to the floor. 

 "Alright. Let's not talk out here." He started back down the hall towards Bean's room, then stopped and turned back. "You coming?"

 Bean and Luci snuck back upstairs and shut the heavy door. As it softly thumped into place, Bean sighed and sat on the floor, legs crossed, and turned to Luci. 

 "Sorry to bug you," Bean said quietly, "I just... Needed to see a friendly face, I guess." 

 Luci struck his tail on the floor and lit a joint. 

"You were having nightmares." It wasn't a question. Luci took a long drag and silently handed it to Bean, who gratefully accepted. 

 "I can't close my eyes without seeing some kind of stupid disaster. Like today could get any worse." Bean passed it back, and rubbed her arms absently.

 They sat and smoked in silence for a while, lost in thought. The room still felt bereft, but it was infinitely more bearable than being completely alone.

 Bean hadn't been totally sure how she felt about her friends, but she'd taken it for granted that they'd have time to figure it out. Luci was still here to talk to, but discussing it with him when she'd never be able to include Elfo felt wrong, like trying to make a sandwich without bread, except the bread was her dead best friend and the sandwich was her life.

 Bean wanted to scream and cry and track down whoever fired that stray arrow and make hog chow out of him with her bare hands, but she felt frozen to the spot. She yawned, and slumped forward. The anger drained out of her, replaced with desolation.

 "Elfo would probably say you need your rest. You want to try sleeping again?" Luci stubbed out what was left of his joint and leaned back against Bean's bedpost.

 Bean shuddered. 

 "Shouldn't you be telling me to stay awake and wear myself out?" 

 "You can't channel your grief into a self-destructive crime spree tomorrow if you're dead on your feet. Lights out, Princess."

 Bean got up from the floor, dusted herself off, and climbed into bed, but didn't shut her eyes. She stared blankly at the canopy of her four-poster as though her eyelids were clamped open, and felt cold where warm elven arms once hugged her.

 Luci hopped up on the bed and walked right up next to her.

 "Scoot over."

 Bean inched aside, and Luci curled up in the crook of her arms. She moved to pet him, stopped to see if he minded, then gently stroked his soft... fur? Skin? Somehow he didn't quite feel like either. He was as warm as a bed of coals, and it was reassuring to know he couldn't dissapear without her noticing.

 Bean pet Luci until she drifted off to sleep. When her nightmares got violent and jarring, Luci slipped into her dreams and muffled them with a cloak of silent, placid dread. It was as close to peace as she could get.


End file.
